''Bugs Bunny's Christmas Carol'' is an eight-minute animated short film produced by Warner Bros. Television and DePatie–Freleng Enterprises and released in 1979 by Warner Bros. as part of the Christmas special, '' Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales''. The cartoon is an adaptation of the Charles Dickens 1843 classic novella ''

A Christmas Carol ''A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas'', commonly known as ''A Christmas Carol'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. ''A Christmas C ...

'', featuring Yosemite Sam as

Ebenezer Scrooge Ebenezer Scrooge () is the protagonist of Charles Dickens's 1843 novella ''A Christmas Carol''. At the beginning of the novella, Scrooge is a cold-hearted miser who despises Christmas. The tale of his redemption by three spirits (the Ghost of ...

and

Porky Pig Porky Pig is an animated character in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons. He was the first character created by the studio to draw audiences based on his celebrity, star power, and the animators created ma ...

as Bob Cratchit. Bugs Bunny plays Jacob Marley and Fred. Scrooge's dream-journey into his past, present, and future is omitted; instead, Bugs dresses up as a white-robed emissary of Hades to scare Scrooge straight.

Plot

Scrooge (played by Yosemite Sam) is counting money in the counting house of his firm when Bob Cratchit (

Porky Porky may refer to: As a nickname * Frank Biscan (1920-1959), Major League Baseball pitcher * Gordon Brown (Canadian football) (born 1927), Canadian Football League retired player * Porky Chedwick, Pittsburgh radio disk jockey of the 1950s and 196 ...

) comes in, wanting to borrow a lump of coal as he is freezing. Scrooge refuses ("I gave you one last Tuesday," he says; "You should've made it last.") and tells him to just work faster so he'll keep warm. Then Scrooge's nephew Fred (

Bugs Bugs may refer to: * Plural of bug Arts, entertainment and media Fictional characters * Bugs Bunny, a character * Bugs Meany, a character in the ''Encyclopedia Brown'' books Films * ''Bugs'' (2003 film), a science-fiction-horror film * ''Bugs ...

) comes in with Christmas decorations and

mistletoe Mistletoe is the common name for obligate hemiparasitic plants in the order Santalales. They are attached to their host tree or shrub by a structure called the haustorium, through which they extract water and nutrients from the host plant. ...

. He is tossed out, and decides that "somebody oughta teach that little humbug some Christmas spirit". Fred then borrows a piece of coal and places it in the office of Cratchit, who graciously thanks him. However, Scrooge's cat

Sylvester Sylvester or Silvester is a name derived from the Latin adjective ''silvestris'' meaning "wooded" or "wild", which derives from the noun ''silva'' meaning "woodland". Classical Latin spells this with ''i''. In Classical Latin, ''y'' represented a ...

notices this and warns him. Scrooge takes back the coal, throwing him out along with

carolers A carol is a festive song, generally religious but not necessarily connected with Christian church worship, and sometimes accompanied by a dance. A caroller (or caroler) is someone who sings carols, and is said to be carolling (or caroling). T ...

(

Elmer Fudd Elmer J.''Hare Brush'' (1956) Fudd is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. '' Looney Tunes''/'' Merrie Melodies'' series and the archenemy of Bugs Bunny. He has one of the more disputed origins in the Warner Bros. cartoon pantheo ...

Pepé Le Pew Pepé Le Pew is an animated character from the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons, introduced in 1945. Depicted as a French striped skunk, Pepé is constantly on the quest for love. However, his offensive ...

and Foghorn Leghorn) whom Fred let into the office, and fires Cratchit. Cratchit invites Fred to dinner and introduces him to his youngest son Tiny Tim ( Tweety Bird). "Kinda puny, isn't he?" Bugs notes. "If you had to live on birdseed, you'd be puny too!" Tim retorts. Scrooge sends the light company to take the last candle (as Cratchit is past due) and a notice that the house is being foreclosed, forcing Cratchit to move out by midnight. Fred decides this is the last straw, remarking Bugs's catchphrase "Of course, you realize that this means war." First, Fred annoys Scrooge with more carolers. When Scrooge goes out to deal with this, he slips into a pile of snow. Next, he puts snow into Scrooge's hot bath, turning it ice-cold as Scrooge jumps in. Fred then dresses up as a ghost - specifically, Scrooge's late business partner Jacob Marley. As Marley, he drags around

chain A chain is a serial assembly of connected pieces, called links, typically made of metal, with an overall character similar to that of a rope in that it is flexible and curved in compression but linear, rigid, and load-bearing in tension. A c ...

s and beats a

drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...

. Investigating, Scrooge accidentally slips down the stairs and into the cold along with Sylvester. When they return to bed, Marley reappears. Sylvester promptly flees, slamming the door behind him and cutting off Scrooge. Marley threatens to take Scrooge to see "the man in the red suit" (the Devil, though Scrooge first guesses

Santa Claus Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a Legend, legendary figure originating in Western Christianity, Western Christian culture who is said to Christmas gift-bringer, bring ...

). Scrooge promptly changes his ways for the better. To prove himself reformed, he dresses up as Santa Claus and runs through the streets at night - giving money to the poor, widows, orphans, and the like. He also rehires Bob Cratchit by making his new partner in the firm, succeeding Marley. Tweety raises a toast to him, and Fred kisses him. Scrooge (now going by the name of Sam) still hates kissing, though. This story is the first part of '' Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales''. As the second one featuring Wile E. Coyote and Roadrunner ('' Freeze Frame'') begins, Bugs congratulates Sam for making Scrooge a charitable character, but Sam tells Bugs that it was all a play, and demands Porky and the gang give all his money back to him.

References

External links

* {{Foghorn Leghorn in animation 1979 television films 1979 films 1979 animated films 1979 short films 1970s animated short films 1970s Warner Bros. animated short films American Christmas films Animated Christmas films Films based on A Christmas Carol Television shows based on A Christmas Carol Ghosts in television Looney Tunes shorts American television films 1970s American animated films Animated films based on novels Bugs Bunny films Films directed by Friz Freleng Yosemite Sam films

Plot

See also

References

External links